Sophia Jones

Media Arts & Sciences major

For the past 10 years, my main practice has been digital illustration, but during my time in college, I have discovered a love for game design, watercolor, animation, printmaking, and sewing - all of which I use to express my passion for storytelling, world building, culture, and artistic analysis. Art has been one of the strongest outlets in my life, and I always seek ways to improve and gain more skills.

I enjoy character design and worldbuilding through a growing cast of my original characters which are inspired by various media such as anime and videogames, as well as cultures and architecture around the globe. Through my characters, I explore my passions, struggles, and greatest desires. My main goal is to bring these characters, their worlds, and their stories to life in the form of illustrations, comics, animations and video games, with the hopes that their stories will reach the hearts of others, helping them to find safety, happiness, and purpose.

Tower of Anemoia

printmaking, etching ink, laser-engraved and hand-carved CDs, screenprint, paper, t-shirt

Jewett Hallway Galleries

wood table with black top with several CDs on stands along its center, below a series of eye-shaped prints on blue, white, and black paper; at right are a different design of a cityscape, which is also on a white t-shirt on dressform at far right

Created for ARTS 322: Advanced Methods in Printmaking, I decided to combine my love for video games and drawing with my newfound passion for printmaking. These prints feature concept designs of video game discs for Tower of Anemoia, a video game I created in CS 365: Advanced Projects in Playable Media, with my group mates. One of my main roles in the development of this game was to create the designs and 3D models of the main characters, who are featured in these illustrations/prints.

For the printing process, I wanted to use a more literal approach with my materials, and chose spare CDs as the base for my stencils. This allowed me to easily tailor the designs and the final product to the shape of a disc, making the concepts feel more real and authentic. I first drew the designs digitally, then engraved them onto the CDs with a laser cutter and by hand with a carving tool. From there, I chose my inks, worked them into the grooves of the CDs, and printed the CDs onto a variety of papers using a printing press in the Print Studio. I dampened the paper before printing to soften the fibers, so they would pick up all of the details of the CDs, including an emboss of the CDs' shape.

The game itself is a Surrealist Fantasy RPG centering around twins - one of which has entered the dreamscape of the other. The player must navigate through different levels of a tower that sits in the middle of a calm ocean - each of its floors telling a story of its own - in order to reach the top of the tower and save the twin who has hidden away. I chose a pastel palette for the prints to match the dreamlike tones of the game, and arranged the designs in a formation that is reminiscent of ascending stairs - which the player must do in game to reach each level.

black line drawing of a character with tall hat and bobble and wide sleeves, eyes closed, curled around a central hole or orb, surrounded by sparkles

blue ink print of a character with tall hat and bobble and wide sleeves, eyes closed, curled around a central hole or orb, surrounded by sparkles

blue ink print of a character with long hair wearing a costume with gloves and a ruffled collar, hands up surrounding a central hole or orb, eyes open and shedding a single tear; in the background are clouds

black line drawing of a character with long hair wearing a costume with gloves and a ruffled collar, hands up surrounding a central hole or orb, eyes open and shedding a single tear; in the background are clouds

several CDs on small clear stands on a black surface; a design with a figure 'holding' the central hole of the CD is etched into the surface of the nearest one

arrangement of small blue or pink ink prints on eye-shaped white, light blue, or black paper

close up on a few eye-shaped white paper prints in blue or pink ink, showing anime-style figures; partly visible pieces of paper at the edges of the photo show this is part of a larger composition

four small round petal-shaped prints, bluish ink on white paper, showing anime-style figures

close up of a white t-shirt with blue ink print of a cityscape with moon

four prints on a gray fabric wall-- papers are black, white, and light blue; all the ink is blue and the images include cityscapes, moons, small anime-style figures

6 CDs on small clear stands on a black surface; 3 prints made from the CDs lie on the surface in front of them; there are etched designs barely visible on the CD surfaces

to see more work by Sophia: sjhomepage.carrd.co/

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